Sound quality: In the Stereo sound mode Yamaha's YAS-107 delivers sound quality that falls in the fair range, meaning that it has sonic shortcomings that leave a lot to be desired when listening to music but don't rule it out for dialog. The bass has good impact, but is slightly prominent, somewhat boomy, and the deepest bass is lacking. The midrange is fairly even but is somewhat hazy and a bit grainy and echoey. The treble is uneven somewhat dull sounding; the lower and mid treble are both somewhat subdued while the upper treble is slightly subdued and somewhat smeared. The overall sound is somewhat congested, and while this model does a so-so job of recovering room ambience (the sense of the acoustic space in which the music was recorded), that ambience is somewhat obscured by the echoey quality of the midrange. When playing back stereo program material the sound stage extends a bit above and beyond the width of the speaker array, but does not provided a suggestion of front to back depth. The Clear Voice mode didn't seem to have much of an effect, and the Surround mode makes the sound stage somewhat higher and imparts a diffuse and more echoey quality to the sound. The DTS: Virtual X Surround mode has the most dramatic effect, but not in a good way - while it does make the sound stage significantly higher and somewhat wider and the sound becomes more dynamic and less muffled, it also makes the sound louder, more bassy and boomy, and imparts a very echoey, somewhat metallic and harsh quality to the sound. With 5.1 channel program material the Surround mode looses the echoey and diffuse character, and the DTS: Virtual X Surround mode looses the bass and boom it added to stereo material and sounds much less harsh and metallic. There was no significant difference between the HDMI, optical, analog, and Bluetooth inputs. The system can provide satisfying volume in a medium sized room.
TV setup and ease of use: Very good overall. Setup: HDMI CEC setup is quick and straight forward. The soundbar comes with an optical cable for TV connection, HDMI or stereo analog cables must be purchased separately if either of those are needed for TV connection. Ease of Use: If this model has been set to respond to the volume and mute commands of an HDMI CEC compatible TV connected via the HDMI ARC ports with and HDMI cable it can work seamlessly with that TV. If you decide to use the soundbar's own physical remote you'll find it uncluttered, well labeled, and very easy to use. App remotes that operate via Bluetooth can also be downloaded onto Apple and Android mobile devices; we found these remotes to be easy to use and glitch-free. The soundbar's console has power, source, and volume, and mute controls that are well marked and easy to see and access. The console power indicator, and labeled source and DSP status indicator lights that are readable from arms length. The console also has a mute indicator and momentary graphical volume display with very rough increments that can be seen from the typical listening position if the soundbar is wall mounted (vertically positioned) but may only be visible from arms length when table mounted (horizontally positioned).
Features setup and ease of use: Excellent overall. Setup: Bluetooth pairing is very easy - the soundbar is automatically in pairing mode once it has been switched on and the Bluetooth source is selected. Apple and Android mobile device Bluetooth remote apps are available for use with this soundbar, but references provided with unit do not give instructions for downloading; they refer to on-line instructions that might not be clear to some users. Ease of Use: The soundbar's physical remote is uncluttered and its controls are well labeled. App remotes that operate via Bluetooth can also be downloaded onto Apple and Android mobile devices; we found these remotes to be easy to use and glitch-free. The soundbar's console has power, source, and volume, and mute controls that are well marked and easy to see and access. The console power indicator, and labeled source and DSP status indicator lights that are readable from arms length. The console also has a mute indicator and momentary graphical volume display with very rough increments that can be seen from the typical listening position if the soundbar is wall mounted (vertically positioned) but may only be visible from arms length when table mounted (horizontally positioned).
